re: a couple questions about general makefile design principles

[Martin d'Anjou]

>  i'm looking at the makefile structure(s) of an existing project, and 
>i'm
>interested in others' opinions of some design/layout decisions, as i'm 
>not
>sure if those decisions are the standard make approach, or are in some
>ways overkill and could be done in a different way.

I constantly have the same question. I never found a complete answer, only
bits and pieces. First search for "Recursive Make considered harmful" on
google. You should be able to find a paper and threads of this mailing
list.

I like the trick in this post:
http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/help-make/2002-12/msg00005.html

good luck
Martin